Thursday, February 7, 2013

Art Los Angeles Contemporary 2013

Every once in a while, a plane rumbles overhead at Art Los Angeles Contemporary, which is set in the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. Sounds stressful, I know, but it's actually sort of romantic. The vibe at the fair is so supremely relaxed that the air traffic just reminds you that you're in exotic territory, that you're on vacation. Things are different here! There were just 70 exhibitors at the fair, which ran January 24 through 27, so you could see it all in a few hours. Such a pleasure.

Paintings by Grabner at Green Gallery.

Milwaukee's Green Gallery installed a handful of Tony Matelli's little metal weed sculptures along the walls of its booth, below some tasty, modestly scaled white paintings by Michelle Grabner. A special bonus: a handsome little book of her work from 2009, published by Poor Farm Press, could be had for $5. (One of Matelli's weed pieces is on view in the "Garden" section of the great "Monsalvat" show at Bureau, which I reviewed recently for The Observer.)

The Lucie Fontaine-curated booth of Anat Ebgi and Various Small Fires, both of Los Angeles.

Some other highlights: a meaty painting of a crab-claw feast by Gina Beavers at Clifton Benevento, a tight little painting on a photograph of some nude men by Aura Rosenberg and two heartbreaking printing plates by Ryan Foerster at Shoot the Lobster, a fabric piece—imprints of belts against a rich blue—by Travis Boyer at Vogt Gallery, Thomas Kovachevich abstractions at Callicoon Fine Arts, a painting hung with various figures and objects by Tom Thayer at Derek Eller.

Anat Ebgi and Various Small Fires shared a striking booth that the rambunctious Lucie Fontaine outfit organized, filling the walls of the booth with a grid made of hundreds of little red dots. Check out that sumptuous red carpeting. Ambitious stuff. Plus (and this is a perfect marker of what a nice feel ALAC has), both Callicoon and Vogt had paintings by Sadie Benning. More images below.

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